Comparative analysis of atmospheric parameters from high-resolution spectroscopic sky surveys: APOGEE, GALAH, Gaia-ESO

SDSS-IV APOGEE-2, GALAH and Gaia-ESO are high resolution, ground-based, multi-object spectroscopic surveys providing fundamental stellar atmospheric parameters and multiple elemental abundance ratios for hundreds of thousands of stars of the Milky Way. We undertake a comparison between the most recent data releases of these surveys to investigate the accuracy and precision of derived parameters by placing the abundances on an absolute scale. We discuss the correlations in parameter and abundance differences as a function of main parameters. Uncovering the variants provides a basis to on-going efforts of future sky surveys. Quality samples from the APOGEE-GALAH, APOGEE-GES and GALAH-GES overlapping catalogs are collected. We investigate the mean variants between the surveys, and linear trends are also investigated. We compare the slope of correlations and mean differences with the reported uncertainties. The average and scatter of vrad, Teff, log g, [M/H] and vmicro, along with numerous species of elemental abundances in the combined catalogs show that in general there is a good agreement between the surveys. We find large radial velocity scatters ranging from 1.3 km/s to 4.4 km/s when comparing the three surveys. We observe weak trends: e.g. in $\Delta$Teff vs. $\Delta$log g for the APOGEE-GES stars, and a clear correlation in the vmicro-$\Delta$vmicro planes in the APOGEE-GALAH common sample. For [$\alpha$/H], [Ti/H] (APOGEE-GALAH giants) and [Al/H] (APOGEE-GALAH dwarfs) potential strong correlations are discovered as a function of the differences in the main atmospheric parameters, and we find weak trends for other elements. In general we find good agreement between the three surveys within their respective uncertainties. However, there are certain regimes in which strong variants exist, which we discuss. There are still offsets larger than 0.1 dex in the absolute abundance scales.Comment: Accepted in A&A, 23 pages, 13 figures, 6 tables. A minor correction is applied to the Gaia-ESO Survey's solar reference: Grevesse et al. (2007) instead of Grevesse & Sauval (1998

StarHorse: A Bayesian tool for determining stellar masses, ages, distances, and extinctions for field stars

Understanding the formation and evolution of our Galaxy requires accurate distances, ages and chemistry for large populations of field stars. Here we present several updates to our spectro-photometric distance code, that can now also be used to estimate ages, masses, and extinctions for individual stars. Given a set of measured spectro-photometric parameters, we calculate the posterior probability distribution over a given grid of stellar evolutionary models, using flexible Galactic stellar-population priors. The code (called {\tt StarHorse}) can acommodate different observational datasets, prior options, partially missing data, and the inclusion of parallax information into the estimated probabilities. We validate the code using a variety of simulated stars as well as real stars with parameters determined from asteroseismology, eclipsing binaries, and isochrone fits to star clusters. Our main goal in this validation process is to test the applicability of the code to field stars with known {\it Gaia}-like parallaxes. The typical internal precision (obtained from realistic simulations of an APOGEE+Gaia-like sample) are $\simeq 8\%$ in distance, $\simeq 20\%$ in age,$\simeq 6\$ in mass, and $\simeq 0.04$ mag in $A_V$. The median external precision (derived from comparisons with earlier work for real stars) varies with the sample used, but lies in the range of $\simeq [0,2]\%$ for distances, $\simeq [12,31]\%$ for ages, $\simeq [4,12]\%$ for masses, and $\simeq 0.07$ mag for $A_V$. We provide StarHorse distances and extinctions for the APOGEE DR14, RAVE DR5, GES DR3 and GALAH DR1 catalogues.Comment: 21 pages, 12 figures, accepte

An Investigation of Non-Canonical Mixing in Red Giant Stars Using APOGEE 12C/13C Ratios Observed in Open Cluster Stars

Standard stellar evolution theory poorly predicts the surface abundances of chemical species in low-mass, red giant branch (RGB) stars. Observations show an enhancement of p-p chain and CNO cycle products in red giant envelopes, which suggests the existence of non-canonical mixing that brings interior burning products to the surface of these stars. The 12C/13C ratio is a highly sensitive abundance metric used to probe this mixing. We investigate extra RGB mixing by examining (1) how 12C/13C is altered along the RGB and (2) how 12C/13C changes for stars of varying age and mass. Our sample consists of 43 red giants spread over 15 open clusters from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey's APOGEE DR17 that have reliable 12C/13C ratios derived from their APOGEE spectra. We vetted these 12C/13C ratios and compared them as a function of evolution and age/mass to the standard mixing model of stellar evolution and to a model that includes prescriptions for RGB thermohaline mixing and stellar rotation. We find that the observations deviate from standard mixing models, implying the need for extra mixing. Additionally, some of the abundance patterns depart from the thermohaline model, and it is unclear whether these differences are due to incomplete observations, issues inherent to the model, our assumption of the cause of extra mixing, or any combination of these factors. Nevertheless, the surface abundances across our age/mass range clearly deviate from the standard model, agreeing with the notion of a universal mechanism for RGB extra mixing in low-mass stars.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

The Milky Way bar and bulge revealed by APOGEE and Gaia EDR3

We investigate the inner regions of the Milky Way using data from APOGEE and Gaia EDR3. Our inner Galactic sample has more than 26 500 stars within |XGal|< 5 kpc, |YGal|< 3.5 kpc, |ZGal|< 1 kpc, and we also carry out the analysis for a foreground-cleaned subsample of 8000 stars that is more representative of the bulge-bar populations. These samples allow us to build chemo-dynamical maps of the stellar populations with vastly improved detail. The inner Galaxy shows an apparent chemical bimodality in key abundance ratios [α/Fe], [C/N], and [Mn/O], which probe different enrichment timescales, suggesting a star formation gap (quenching) between the high- and low-α populations. Using a joint analysis of the distributions of kinematics, metallicities, mean orbital radius, and chemical abundances, we can characterize the different populations coexisting in the innermost regions of the Galaxy for the first time. The chemo-kinematic data dissected on an eccentricity-|Z|max plane reveal the chemical and kinematic signatures of the bar, the thin inner disc, and an inner thick disc, and a broad metallicity population with large velocity dispersion indicative of a pressure-supported component. The interplay between these different populations is mapped onto the different metallicity distributions seen in the eccentricity-|Z|max diagram consistently with the mean orbital radius and Vφ distributions. A clear metallicity gradient as a function of |Z|max is also found, which is consistent with the spatial overlapping of different populations. Additionally, we find and chemically and kinematically characterize a group of counter-rotating stars that could be the result of a gas-rich merger event or just the result of clumpy star formation during the earliest phases of the early disc that migrated into the bulge. Finally, based on 6D information, we assign stars a probability value of being on a bar orbit and find that most of the stars with large bar orbit probabilities come from the innermost 3 kpc, with a broad dispersion of metallicity. Even stars with a high probability of belonging to the bar show chemical bimodality in the [α/Fe] versus [Fe/H] diagram. This suggests bar trapping to be an efficient mechanism, explaining why stars on bar orbits do not show a significant, distinct chemical abundance ratio signature

Infrared High-Resolution Integrated Light Spectral Analyses of M31 Globular Clusters From Apogee

Chemical abundances are presented for 25 M31 globular clusters (GCs), based on moderately high resolution (R = 22,500) H-band integrated light (IL) spectra from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE). Infrared (IR) spectra offer lines from new elements, lines of different strengths, and lines at higher excitation potentials compared to the optical. Integrated abundances of C, N, and O are derived from CO, CN, and OH molecular features, while Fe, Na, Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, and Ti abundances are derived from atomic features. These abundances are compared to previous results from the optical, demonstrating the validity and value of IR IL analyses. The CNO abundances are consistent with typical tip of the red giant branch stellar abundances but are systematically offset from optical Lick index abundances. With a few exceptions, the other abundances agree between the optical and the IR within the 1σ uncertainties. The first integrated K abundances are also presented and demonstrate that K tracks the α elements. The combination of IR and optical abundances allows better determinations of GC properties and enables probes of the multiple populations in extragalactic GCs. In particular, the integrated effects of the Na/O anticorrelation can be directly examined for the first time

THE APOGEE SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY OF KEPLER PLANET HOSTS: FEASIBILITY, EFFICIENCY, AND FIRST RESULTS

The Kepler mission has yielded a large number of planet candidates from among the Kepler Objects of Interest(KOIs), but spectroscopic follow-up of these relatively faint stars is a serious bottleneck in confirming and characterizing these systems. We present motivation and survey design for an ongoing project with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III multiplexed Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) near-infrared spectrograph to monitor hundreds of KOI host stars. We report some of our first results using representative targets from our sample, which include current planet candidates that we find to be false positives, as well as candidates listed as false positives that we do not find to be spectroscopic binaries. With this survey, KOI hosts are observed over ∼20 epochs at a radial velocity (RV) precision of 100–200ms−1. These observations can easily identify a majority of false positives caused by physically associated stellar or substellar binaries, and in many cases, fully characterize their orbits. We demonstrate that APOGEE is capable of achieving RV precision at the 100–200ms−1 level over long time baselines, and that APOGEE’s multiplexing capability makes it substantially more efficient at identifying false positives due to binaries than other single-object spectrographs working to confirm KOIs as planets. These APOGEE RVs enable ancillary science projects, such as studies of fundamental stellar astrophysics or intrinsically rare substellar companions. The coadded APOGEE spectra can be used to derive stellar properties (Teff, log g) and chemical abundances of over a dozen elements to probe correlations of planet properties with individual elemental abundances

Disentangling the Galactic Halo with APOGEE. II. Chemical and Star Formation Histories for the Two Distinct Populations

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